LoveLive: A Pro Idol Project
by ACEthetic
Summary: While STARISH prepares themselves for the UtaPri award, M's is trying to adjust to performing together after a long time of inactivity as nine. Together they set a goal towards the School Idol Festival, an important opportunity for any school idol recently wanting to debut as a professional. With the guidance of their Master Course seniors, they and STARISH are set on victory.
1. Prologue

**I do not own Uta no Prince-sama or Love Live! School Idol Project. This is also posted on my AO3 account.**

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A mysterious room was pitch black, with the only light illuminating the area being one from a computer screen. In front of the screen, was a middle-aged man with sunglasses and wild red hair who seemed to have been in deep concentration with whatever the computer displayed to him. You can hear his gruff voice of disapproval as he clicked through various videos and photos of young idol groups after another.

Nothing, nothing interested him. None of them held the talent he was looking for, even if their hard work showed with fruits of labor. None of them were ready either for the world he can easily grant them. They had other dreams, dreams not filled with love-filled music and rhythmic dances. Their voices were sweet, yes, but premature and lacked any soul to put in handcrafted music.

This won't be good. He cannot have his agency only go on with what they have. They need a fresher perspective, he need more women in his agency. With male performers dominating his business, how in the name of love itself would he be able to reach forward to everyone?

And that is when he saw it. Sure, their costumes were plain (school uniforms were never good for stage performances) but he felt something rile up in his chest. Yes, yes this is what his company needed. This music was filled with what he needed, and he would make sure these ladies would reach their dreams through music.

Shining Saotome was going to make them into real idols.

Hanayo Koizumi and Nico Yazawa were by far the most nervous out of the group. Hanayo was breathing heavily, her face stricken with panic. Nico Yazawa's red eyes darted across everyone's faces and appeared calm at expression, but her body was shaking erratically.

The rest of the seven displayed their own array of emotions such as excitement, nervousness and slight worry for the two short girls who were the worst out of them. After all, they never expected to be "scouted" per se by one of the most influential talent agencies in Japan.

M's was a popular school idol group at their time, the first nine was brimming with that refreshing and calming energy that just drew people in. All of their different personalities and traits brought them together as one idol group, and it charmed a lot as if all nine were made to sing with each other.

It did not last forever though, as the eldest three had to bid the group adieu by graduating. It was written in the stars, yet everyone chose to ignore it to focus on their goals as idols together. As school idols, they stop being one once they graduate from their last year in high school.

M's became no more, as the six left behind could not bear having that name be without the rest of the original members. The next school year, the newly enrolled Otonokizaka students flooded for a possible spot in the Idol Research Club, and Arisa Ayase and Yukiho Kousaka were let in.

But the depression was still evident in them, even if the remaining M's flashed a smile and continued with their school idol antics. Umi Sonoda began being as invested as she used to be in the Archery Club, Maki Nishikino now seriously worked on her medical training for her future as heir to all her parents could offer; Kotori Minami began wondering about a future in the fashion industry after graduating while Honoka Kousaka was trying her best to show how capable she was as M's leader while worrying about her life after her incoming graduation with Kotori and Umi. Rin Hoshizora had started on participating more in the school's sports festivities and helping out in the different sports clubs.

Only Hanayo Koizumi maintained the strongest hope that M's will form again. Besides, Nico was attending numerous auditions while Eli and Nozomi just continued on in college life worrying about Nico's complete investment on becoming a professional idol. Nico however, knew that becoming an idol alone won't ever feel the same as her group in high school. But the idea stuck with Hanayo that she cannot shake it off during class. What if the nine of them auditioned together, and they can all move on as one group once more. Would it even work? They were fantastic as school idols of course, but do they have the willingness to go on and become professionals?

That was when it started, when Hanayo nervously brought it up in one of their gatherings. The nine girls still met up in the same fast food restaurant and hung out every week, as friends would do.

Nico supported it wholeheartedly, and Honoka was the second to agree, but the rest were unsure with the idea. After all, some of them (such as Maki and Kotori) had already given thought on their future profession. What awaited for the nine of them though, was a decision that came in too fast before all of them could agree on Hanayo's proposal.

They were all scouted for the Master Course in Shining Agency. The Master Course, where new celebrities-in-waiting are trained and crafted for their big debut as professionals in their field, was an enormous opportunity one cannot turn down. That was all it took for the nine of them to be crammed in a bus provided by Shining Saotome to be brought to the Master Course Dormitory.

"Kayo-chin, are you okay?" Rin asked her best friend with worry. The driver had alerted them that they were fifteen minutes away from their destination.

"I-I am fine!" Hanayo stuttered out, still a bit shaky.

"I can't believe this is happening." Eli voiced out her wonder, as the bus neared their stop.

"We were fated for this moment." Nozomi's voice was laced with wistful thoughts. It has been sometime since all of them performed together as M's, and the idea had excited everyone. Eli was comforted by her words, and offered Nozomi a smile.

"We are going down." Umi informed everyone, causing Nico to jump.

Kotori noticing this, asked "Nico-chan, are you nervous?" with her usual high voice.

"N-no! What makes you think that?" Nico denied immediately, but her shaking body gave her away.

"It's childish to deny it. All of us are nervous, so you are not alone." Maki remarked, standing up to get off the bus. Nico fumed at this, but her coming retort was blocked off with the excited shout of Honoka.

"Alright! Let's go!" Honoka lead the way as she grabbed her luggage and started heading out of the bus. They all now stood in front of the gates of the Master Course, and looking at each other with a vague sense of accomplishment, they pushed themselves to go in.


	2. Advance to Tomorrow!

"This place is huge!" Rin yelled out as she ran down the carpeted floor. Her energetic attitude shown with a bright smile at her part. Her body could not stay still as she ogled at her surroundings. It was fairly easy to get directions from the office and reach the dormitory, but the magnificent scenes in the forest and a large castle-like building in where they would be living in for the remainder of their stay just begged to be explored and had caused a lot of detours.

"Oi, Rin! Stop making such noise." Maki complained behind her, quickening her pace to follow her friend. They had finally reached their desired floor and they expected their belongings that were shipped prior to their arrival to be in their respected rooms.

"These dorms are really big, I wonder if we will get lost." Kotori voiced out her thoughts, causing a few to nod. It would be the first time for everyone to stay in a dormitory so the idea was foreign. Nico and Hanayo had calmed down from their anxiety, their nervousness replaced by complete awe at their new residence. _This would be where we would rebuild our career_ , Hanayo thought with a little sigh escaping her lips. It felt surreal to her; as a young girl she had dreamed of this moment. She never imagined that she would meet such wonderful friends along the way, but she did not regret it.

"We will be separated into groups of three in each room." Eli informed the group, and they all in turn gave acknowledgements of understanding. The corridor was long and wide, and all the doors appeared the same save for the metal plating above the doors bearing the residents' last names. There were also a few boxes outside each door, most probably owned by whoever stayed in each room. Honoka soon grew tired of the search. She wanted to see her room right this instant. Her fatigue clouded her judgement, and she spotted her last name above one of the doors.

"Then, this room is mine!" Honoka excitedly approached the door she believed was her room.

"Wait Honoka-"

Honoka opened the door as wide as it could take, and the scene in front of her was not the one she was expecting. A girl, unpacking a few comforters from a cardboard box, jumped at the sudden bang the door emitted.

"Ah! I am so sorry!" Honoka apologized, her face burning a bright red at that embarrassing moment. She bowed low, her orange hair masking her flustered expression. She entered the room two doors from her own.

"E-eh?" The stranger in the room uttered, surprised by both the new girl and the sudden apology.

More girls flooded the scene, and apologized at the behalf of their friend. The stranger just smiled it off though, saying that no harm was done and it was a simple mix up. "Once more, I am very sorry at the actions of my friend!" The girl with long blue hair to the stranger, apologized as she directed a stern look towards the sheepish person who had barged in her room.

She counted nine young women, who all wore casual clothing fit for warm weather.

"It's fine! Moreover, I did not know new people were coming..." The girl trailed off, tucking a stray strand of short light orange hair behind her ears. Of course there would be more people, the Master Course was not that exclusive, but she never seen any of them before. "I am Nanami Haruka, pleased to meet you."

Haruka wondered if they studied in Saotome Academy. After all that was where she thought majority of the members of the Master Course studied in before coming here to debut. Maybe they were in another class which was why she never saw them before, or maybe they were scouted.

Following the lead of the newly dubbed Haruka, the girls each took their own turns to introduce themselves.

"I am Ayase Eli, nice to meet you." The tallest girl with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and bright blue introduced herself. Her voice held grace and control, something Haruka immediately admired.

"Nozomi Tojo, I am glad we got to meet you Haruka-chan." Nozomi, who also had long hair (longer than Eli's) but purple tied it in two long pigtails, took this as her turn. Her smile held some kind of all-knowing understanding with her maternal gaze.

Next, in contrast to the two tall girls who had introduced themselves, the shortest girl stepped up with glowing candy red eyes that screamed 'I am ready to take the stage!' "Nico nico nii~" her voiced pierced in as she thrown her hands up on her head for an unlikely pose. "I am Yazawa Nico, everyone's favorite idol!" Her black pig tails bounced as she said this.

"Ignore her," a cool-headed person spoke up next, twirling a stray strand of her red hair using her finger. "Nishikino Maki." She introduced herself with a slight tinge of awkwardness, but she still showed a pleasant enough smile.

"I-I'm Koizumi Hanayo, nice to meet you." A shy girl with short brown hair and a round complexion took her turn, stammering slightly. She fidgeted with the edges of her shirt that she wore, but even with her stutter she met Haruka's gaze with direct eye contact.

"I'm Hoshizora Rin! I hope we can be friends, nya~!" A cheerful voice stood out, her short orange hair (darker than Haruka's and not as shiny as Honoka's) bounced with every movement she made. Rin's mouth formed a small curvy 'w' shape to match a cat.

"I am Sonoda Umi," Umi from earlier, with the long blue hair and calming yet stern gaze, formally introduced herself. "I hope we get along well, Nanami-san." Umi strangely reminded Haruka of someone she knew with her sense of formality, but did not read into it.

"I am Minami Kotori! It is nice to meet you." A gray haired girl pitched in, showing a closed eyed expression. Her high voice added to her cute and feminine appeal. She seemed to be the 'best-dressed' in fashionable terms, with her turquoise dress and white short-sleeved cardigan over it.

"Hehe, and I am Kousaka Honoka. Sorry about earlier..." Honoka formally introduced herself like Umi, but she was more bashful about it. "We are school idols! We form the idol group M's." _School idols?_ That surprised Haruka.

"You mean we used to be school idols," Nico butted in, "We are going to be world famous professionals!" Everyone excluding Haruka seemed used to her antics, so Haruka jumped slightly at Nico's natural-born enthusiasm.

"M's." Haruka sounded out the name in her own tongue, finding a pleasant ring to it. "Ah, welcome! You are new to the Master Course too?"

"Oh, so you haven't been here long?" Nozomi asked, and Haruka nodded.

"How about you, Haru-chan! Are you an idol?" Rin went to her side with a curious look. It made sense to her anyway, but not to the composer.

"E-eh?! Me, an idol?" Haruka was shocked at the idea of her singing at a stage. No, it was not her job. Just the thought brought her a reddening face. She did not feel like she had enough courage for it.

"Well if you aren't an idol, what course do you take then?" Nico boldly questioned herself.

"Um... I am the composer of the idol group STARISH." Haruka modestly replied, bringing surprised expressions from Nico and Hanayo.

"STARISH?! The boy idol group that has recently debuted with their song Maji LOVE 1000%?" Hanayo's shy personality disappeared, and now her idol fanatic side came out in the open. Nico had a baffled look on her face, her mouth opened wide with barely a few syllables spouting out. Haruka nodded, making the two even more frantic.

"You mean that song playing in the radio?" Maki raised her own question, drawing the attention to herself. "You were the one who wrote it?" Haruka nodded humbly, feeling a bit shy under the gaze of indigo eyes.

"Maki-chan is a composer too for our group!" Rin shined light on her friend, who sighed at her tone of voice.

"You are a composer and an idol?" Haruka took her own time to ask a question, and Maki reluctantly said 'yes' not wanting to draw any attention to herself. Haruka found that admirable, being able to juggle life as a composer and idol at the same time.

"I think I saw them in a magazine once..." Eli mumbled to Nozomi.

"Star... Ish?" Honoka mumbled, confused.

"What exactly is STARISH, Umi?" Kotori asked her one of her childhood friends, who shook her head for a response.

"I don't know myself." Umi said honestly.

"This is why this club needs an idol expert like me!" Nico arrogantly pointed at herself, causing Maki to roll her eyes and Nozomi to smirk.

"We aren't a club anymore, so knock it off." Maki retorted, causing Nico to get frustrated.

"Just as Hanayo-san said... They are an idol group of six." Haruka explained briefly, as Hanayo already covered the topic. "They are all my friends." She added fondly.

"That is very impressive, Haruka-chan." Nozomi praised the shorter female, who blushed lightly at that. It never got old, being complimented on her music. Everyone seemingly agreed, and even if some were a bit clueless as to what STARISH was (causing great grief for Hanayo and Nico), it was still their pleasure to compliment her.

Eli, noticing the time, spoke up to break off the high tension. "Well, we better unpack. It was nice to meet you Haruka-san. I hope we get to see you again."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and followed Eli's lead. "Good bye Haruka, I am sure we will meet again." Nozomi offered her own farewell.

"Yeah, good bye." Maki said with good intent, before walking off with the rest. Everyone else gave their own goodbye, and Haruka went back into her room content of new friends.

With a wild suggestion on Honoka's part and the nostalgic memories that came with it, they all donned their own practice attires and decided to rehearse their old routines to get in shape. Of course, they all decided by majority to explore the building first, and that was what they did.

It was by chance that they had found a roof similar to their old practice area. It was different in appearance though, but the fundamentals stayed the same. The space was wider, the floor a reddish gray color which matched the large square part that jutted out of the flat space, with a door and small window that led back in the building.

One large difference was the small modern gardens contained in rectangular cases that formed their pathway to a covered café-like area with metal tables and chairs. There were two empty spaces that they could use, one covered and one bare to the sun, so they can practice with something covering their heads if the sun became too hot or the rain was drizzling down.

It was perfect, and everyone stood in awe. "There are practice rooms inside though, we could have always used those." Maki logically pointed out, but it did not sound like she wished to go back in.

"This is an improvement from our last rooftop, don't you think Maki-chan?" Nozomi slyly remarked towards her, who scoffed.

"There is so much space to move around." Eli was thinking of all the choreography they could perform with a wide enough space for their formation. It would be easy to measure out their real stage here, or at least a part of it. They all were impressed by the size of the roof, needless to say.

"But... Do you think, that from what Nanami said, that there are more talented professionals in here?" Hanayo blurted out, a bit uneasy. "I heard that a lot of people who come to the Master Course studied in Saotome Academy, a famous school for idols and composers. STARISH studied there, so Nanami-san might have too..."

Everyone turned to Hanayo, confused about the implication at first but soon understood it. They are still amateurs in the show business world and there would be people in the Master Course with more advanced education than them. They had their experience, but would it be enough to last?

"Well of course there would be," Nico rebuffed Hanayo's implication, causing a shock in the group. "We'll be assigned seniors to work with us, so we will have to learn from them. I am a bit annoyed though, why can't we skip the idol apprenticeship and go right to debuting?"

"Nico is right," Umi took her side much to everyone's curiosity. "Though I am unsure about debuting right away, we will be able to learn a lot from the people ahead of us, and soon we will be on the same level."

"Yeah, Umi-chan! We will get to meet a lot of people on the way. We already met Haruka, who knows who else we would meet?" Honoka jumped in, and everyone can't help but feel immensely better. The pressure left their bodies, and they all felt in the mood to train.

"Will we really be professional idols?" Kotori asked to no one in particular, enchanted by the idea. Honoka looked around at the faces of her friends, and is also drawn to the idea of forever performing with all of them.

Breathing in and out, Honoka ran to the open spaced area free of the shade, and once she reached the railing keeping her from falling, she bellowed "WE CAN DO IT!"

"Honoka! What are you doing?!" Eli called out to her in surprise, rushing to her while the others followed. Turning around, Honoka flashed them all a signature smile.

"If we believe we can, we can do it," Honoka started a speech, "This is a chance for all of us to perform again, and I am willing to take it! You all should be too."

"We can't argue with that," Nozomi let out a faint giggle, all the attention on her. "I want to continue performing with everyone."

"I was upset when M's disbanded, and I was willing to not pursue my education in fashion to perform with you all." Kotori spoke up, causing everyone to remember that time. They did not speak of it often, because there was no reason to. "And... I wouldn't have it any other way."

All of them immediately brightened, all in understanding of each others wishes. They all wanted to be with each other, as the nine Muses.

" _ **Don't you feel the sudden drive to a chance? Yes, let's go advance!"**_ Honoka slowly sang out, the tune so familiar to everyone.

Looking at each other, everyone let out their feelings into the next few lyrics.

" _ **We have no time for any future laments, so we'll take steps on current moments.**_ "

They all missed that sound, the sound of all nine of their voices combined in perfect harmony. They were meant to sing with each other, and if one ever went out all of them would fall.

The cold breeze and the sun hitting them on their heads, standing on that rooftop, if they closed their eyes and imagined it they would remember their days in Otonokizaka like they were still students studying and trying their best to save their precious school.

That was their first dream, but it was time to move on to a new one. M's, they all silently decided, would perform for anyone and everyone willing to hear their music.

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 **A/N: The song featured in this chapter is Susume-Tomorrow! The English lyrics are owned by me, and you can see the TV SIZE version in deviantart in my account.**


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